Chapter 672

She murmured, “I dislike you making a joke out of a proposal, but I did like that ring. And yet, you threw it away.”

“It frustrated me,” Caden replied. “Why keep something that only upsets me?”

A wave of sadness washed over her. “Couldn’t you have told me this earlier? Why did you have to ignore me?”

Caden gazed deeply into her eyes. In recent days, he had rushed to another city to oversee the creation of the ring, hoping to propose sooner. At the same time, his company was overwhelmed with problems, leaving him exhausted.

With everything piling up, he returned only to find her with Blake. In that moment, he nearly considered giving up. However, the more he thought about it, the less he wanted to let go. Letting go wasn’t an option for him.

After a long silence, Caden finally said, “Alicia, it seems no matter how sincerely I treat you, you can never fully be loyal to me.”

Emotion welled up inside Alicia. She retorted, “You went on a trip without telling me. How was I supposed to know who you were with? You say I’m unfaithful, but you’ve never seriously planned to build a family with me.”

Tears gathered in her eyes, threatening to spill. She held them back, refusing to show any weakness. Defiantly, she added, “Maybe next time I’ll disappear without a word, so you can see how it feels.”

Her determined voice, edged with unshed tears, reached him. It wasn’t defiance. It was a silent plea for his attention.

His frustration melted away. He drew her into his arms. “Did you miss me while I was gone?”

Feeling her strength fade, Alicia leaned into him. In a hushed tone, she said, “Only someone foolish would miss you. Caden, you’re such a jerk. I even went to the airport to pick you up tonight, and you left me hanging.”

Caden’s words stirred guilt within him. “Every time I see you smile at Blake, I feel like punching him.”

Alicia said, “He showed up out of the blue and urgently needed my help to choose a gift for Ray. I had no idea you were arriving tonight. If I’d known, I would’ve picked you up and told Mr. Langstaff I couldn’t help.”

Her honesty melted away his stubbornness. Forgetting about the noodles, he leaned in to kiss her.

Alicia enjoyed the embrace for a moment but then remembered something important and gently pushed him back.